Iruka of the Ocean
by SpiritMusician
Summary: Iruka is keeping a special secret that some Leaf Jounin are starting to get curious about. How will our poor dolphin keep his secret safe? YaoiBoyxBoy *adopted from Moonpath-wolf* first 4 chapters are her genius work. .
1. Suspicion of a Dolphin

Suspicion of the dolphin 

Iruka gasped for breath as he shoot thought the door of his apartment and locked it tightly behind himself. He leaned against it gasping for breath as he felt pain traveling on the side of his neck, signaling the first stage of the change. Iruka cursed everything in his mind, all from his ancestors to the current Hokage as he slid down the door, the sound of rain splashing heavily outside. Iruka glared at the now wet window, his eyes leaking _'its all the rains fault' _He cried out mentally. If it hadn't been for the rain he wouldn't have had to run so fast, leaving Genma and Raidou confused and suspicious.

Iruka thumped his head against the door in despair, he hadn't even known about the rain coming or he would have been sure to stay inside or at least not agree to go out with Genma and Raidou for a drink. He groaned softly as he thumped his head a little to hard on the door and moved from his spot on the floor, slumping down on the couch, waiting for the transforming to be complete its first stage.

'_Every freaking time' _He fumed to himself as he stared at the window but then he sighed and moved to stare at the ceiling, his eyes misty as his mind traveled back to the time he found out about his….power.

Flashback no jutsu!

_Five year old Iruka was playing happily along the river, not far from where his parents where setting up a blanket for a picnic. They had arrived at Konoha about five months earlier when the upraise against the bloodlimits in Mist had started. The Umino line had a bloodlimit but it had been dormant for years and only seemed to appear in females… of course that could have something with what the bloodlimit was._

_Iruka was happily unaware of this as he jumped around by the river, giggling happily as he played. His parents smiled softly at seeing the small boy so happy and carefree, not as it had been the few last months in Mist as the tension rose among all._

_Iruka's parents where grateful that they at least had escaped the destiny that so many of the other bloodlimit bearers from Mist had been dealt. They both shook the depressing thought from their mind and concentrated on their current life's…their happy lives. Iruka suddenly lost balance as he was playing and everything seemed to go in slow motion as he fell towards the river, and he just fell and fell until a splash sounded thought the clearing._

_Iruka sat dumbfounded in the stream as his parents notice where he was and started to chuckle at the look on Iruka's face "oh dear…what are you doing" his mother called out, laughter oozing from her voice, Iruka just giggled and played around with the water. His parents shook his head smiling as they could easily change on the boy and he seemed so happy in the water, so they let him be where he was._

_Iruka giggled more and splashed his hands around, his slightly chubby and awkward hands making the water fly high in the air before falling down like droplets from a rain cloud. Then the tingling came, making Iruka shiver and go quiet. The tingling turned into small waves of pain, as when you fall and scrape up your knee. But from there it started to hurt more. Iruka whimpered and started to shake harder. His whimpers alerted his parents to his distress and they quickly rushed over to see what was wrong with their little son._

_But as they approached a glint of light went of, blinding them thoroughly before pulling back. His parents blinked the light out of their eyes before staring at their child, their child who was showing the biggest sign of the Umino line…_

Flashback Kai

Iruka sighed as he remembered his first change…his first change into a merman, the bloodlimit of the Umino's. And of course he was the first male ever to have the bloodlimit but it had consequences for him, like every time he got wet he would turn and how wet he got determined how far the change would go. Iruka hated it. He hated the fact that when it was raining he had to use a hakta shield to avoid getting wet, that he couldn't go with the children to the lake for swimming. He hated that he almost never went on missions because the danger of getting wet and helpless on land was always the risk…and Iruka could not be risked.

He was too deep in the secrets of Konoha as he had the Sandaime's favor and trust; he daily handle documents that most ANUB ninja don't even know exist. No…he could not be risked and the Sandaime knew it and acted accordantly. Iruka may only be a chuunin but he was as important as Ibiki Morino if not even more because of the sensitive files that Iruka handled and so the old Hokage had gotten him the one job that all ninja hated…desk job…the fear of every sane or insane ninja.

Iruka snorted to himself at the thought of the hokage himself fidgeting against small paper men that in the end won over the powerful man. But his mood rose slightly at the thought as he rolled himself onto his stomach on the couch and pulled out the hair tie to let his hair flow freely, covering up the gills on his neck that had formed. Iruka made a face _'at least I'm not blue…now that would be bad' _

Miles away

"A-A-ACHOO!" Kisame sneezed loudly in the clearing he and Itachi was resting in. He rubbed his nose with a deep frown as Itachi raised an eyebrow at his shark looking partner"….something wrong Kisame?" Kisame growled softly and shifted the sword on his back" I don't know….I think someone was mocking me or at least thinking something not so nice about me" Itachi smirked slowly" its not so difficult….fish breath". Kisame twitched and roared"YOUR GONNA DIE!!"

Back in Konoha

Iruka smiled drowsily to himself at the thought of him being blue, "blue like a berry" he muttered and buried deeper into the couch, yawning softly. It didn't take long for Iruka to fall asleep where he was, forgetting to remove either sandals or his vest as he was content to sleep on the couch. He never heard the quiet picking of the lock nor the click when the lock opened. He never heard the door slide open or two pars of feet's quietly and quickly walking into his small apartment.

"…this doesn't really look like grading papers to me" one of them whispered wile moving a senbon from one side of his mouth to the other. The other shrugged and quietly padded through the room to find a blanket to cover the sleeping man. Genma sighed and stared at Iruka, waiting for Raidou to return, "What are you hiding Iru-chan?" he muttered as he gently tucked a lock of hair away from the brunettes face.

Raidou soon returned with a spare blanket he found and covered up Iruka's sleeping form to keep him from getting cold and sick. None of the two jounin's noticed the gills on Iruka's neck as they started to disappear into the tan skin.

………………………………...

The next day came warm and sunny as if to make up for the rainy afternoon and night from last day. Iruka moaned softly as he tried to avoid the sunbeams shining on his face but it was to no avail as his dazed chocolate eyes slowly opened. But they quickly slammed shut as the sun was sharp coming in from the living room window and Iruka pulled the blanket over his head to hide from the brightness…wait….blanket?!

Iruka's eyes flew up as he sat up, staring at the piece of fabric that had kept him warm all night _'okaaay…I KNOW I did not get a blanket last night…so how…' _his eyes narrowed as he looked around for anything suspicious. He sighed in relief as he found no one there or anything out of order, his eyes fell on the clock hanging on his wall. His eyes widened and he gave a muffled whimper before shooting up from the couch "I'M LATE!!" his yell tore through the apartment as he fumbled around, trying to not fall as he quickly found clean clothes and his paper. He was grateful that he didn't have the academy today as he surly would have missed the whole day there.

Iruka jumped out one of the window, landing neatly on the roof beside before taking off quickly towards the mission room. It took him less then five minutes to reach the doors of the mission room as he jumped the roofs to avoid meeting anyone. He walked through the halls with his head bent down, trying not to catch anyone's eyes as he hurried to his desk.

The minute he stepped into the main room someone called out to him and that someone was a dead person Iruka decided as all the ninjas in the mission room moved there attention to him "IRUKA! Finally, I didn't think you show" Genma smirked across the room. Iruka gave him a withering glare before hurrying over to his desk and sitting down, all the ninja's eyes still on him…wait…why where they gawking at him?

Genma, grinning like a Cheshire cat, leaned from his seat beside Iruka and reached over to him " you should wear your hair down more often Iruka" he drawled slowly as he twirled some of Iruka's dark hair around his finger. "You look good with it down" the senbon chewing man smirked at the shell shocked face of Iruka, even as a tan hand flew to the lose hair.

Iruka swallowed heavily as he felt the lose strands he forgot to tie up when he left his apartment, "o-oh!" Genma snickered as a heavy flush crawled its way up Iruka's neck and onto his cheeks "forgot your hair tie eh?" he lent back into his seat as he moved the senbon around, watching Iruka as he began fumbling around in his pocket for a spare one "y-yeah…I overslept and had to hurry".

Iruka held his head bowed as he searched through everywhere he could have put anyone of his hair ties but he had none. He bowed his head a few notch lower as he knew that they where STILL staring at him, "Iruka! Why will wonders never stop! You hair is actually not tied up!" Iruka groaned inside of his head at the loud voice. Anko… crazy Anko who used to and still did tease Iruka until he almost blew. "Anko-san" he greeted with a nod. Anko grinned as she leaned her palms on his desk and moved close to him, his face moving backwards as her got closer, his eyes going wide as the oh so hated blush crawled deeper over his face. "You know…" her voice was sultry as she gazed at him with lidded eyes, "You are very cute like that…you would make a fine uke" she grinned.

Iruka sputtered even as he dug his back into the chair he was sitting in, trying to make more distance from the female ninja. Anko laughed, "Aw relax Iruka-sensei…your not my kind of man" she grinned and dropped something on his desk. A hair tie! Oh how he could have kissed her at the moment. He muttered a quick thanks as he did up his hair in that old familiar ponytail, as he did there was a few groans of disappointment that made his cheeks colour in a different shade of red '_gods…if I blush more now there wont be any blood left in my body!' _

Iruka quickly set out on the papers left on his desk, trying to get them done fast but properly and for a little while he managed to do that even with some of the ninja's in the room still staring at him. But in the end his concentration was lost as a lone finger traced his neck. He did the only reasonable thing…he yelped and fell of his chair like a damn idiot as he stared up at the person who had touched him. Genma. A Genma who was staring down at him with dumbfounded eyes, but soon his eyebrows started to twitch and he laughed, along with the rest of the ninja's "damn your jumpy Iruka" he chortled as Iruka got into his seat again, the red now a permanent colour of his face.

Genma lent back in his chair observing Iruka for a few seconds before speaking up. "But I was just wondering about that slit on your neck…hit yourself or something?" Iruka stiffened at Genma's words and before he could stop himself, he found his hand snapping up to his neck and clamping down on its side, confirming his worst fear. Some of the gills were still there. Genma was watching him the whole time as this happened, along with few of the others "o-oh well I guess I must have fallen" Iruka gave Genma a strained smile before burrowing down in his papers, trying to ignore Genma's intense stare on him…and his neck.

Iruka cursed inside himself as he shifted through his work, trying to keep his calm and stop his hands from shaking to much as more and more nerves kept popping up. He should have remembered that it took time for it to completely disappear, should have remembered to hide it in some way like so many times before, no one would have question if he covered it with a scarf or something. And then there was the fact that Genma touched it…oh Iruka hoped that Genma had not felt how different it was from a normal wound.

Genma who had kept his eyes discreetly on Iruka the whole time noted how tense he was. He now knew something was up with the younger chuunin and it had something with the slit on his neck to do. Genma's eyes suddenly narrowed as he took a closer look. Was it just him or…did the thing just move before becoming smaller? Genma shook his head as if to clear his vision but it was still smaller then before. What could this mean? Genma was handed a mission report that he quickly looked over, thinking all the way '_Iru…I'm going to figure out those secrets of yours…count on it'._

Iruka suddenly felt a shiver running up his back as dread settled in his stomach, making it flop unpleasantly _'I got a bad feeling…'_he rose his eyes to the left side of him and clashed with Genma's dark, thoughtful eyes, sending a jolt of emotions thought his body. The main one…fear _'…I'm screwed' _was all that came to him as he couldn't move his gaze. Vulnerable, uneasy chocolate eyes meet with thoughtful, captivating eyes as the two stared at each other both with the same thought running over in there heads _'let the game begin'_


	2. Mission Time

**Mission time**

Iruka was tired, very, very tired. He had been hounded all day by Genma…well not hounded but Genma hadn't stopped staring at all! The whole freaking day, from the moment he touched his neck to the now and that had been about 6 hours now. Iruka sighed and stamped yet another report, praying for the time to go faster so he could get away from the piercing stare that bore into his neck.

Iruka hands twitched nervously every few second as time wore on so slowly and he could almost see how slowly it went. He occupied one of his hands by tapping his pen on the table in a rhythmic sound, trying to make time fly faster and for a while it did until, "Damn it Iruka! Stop that" a hand clamped down on his tapping one. Iruka startled eyes followed the hand up the arm to the face it was attached to, "Genma…I'm sorry" he smiled nervously as the hand moved away from his own. Genma snorted and flicked the senbon irritated but said nothing as he went back to his work.

Time continued to snail its pace away as Iruka got more and more bored and twitchy _'what wouldn't I do for a mission right now' _he sighed for what must have been the hundred time just this hour. But even now that Tsunade was the hokage, his missions where rare and far between. At time Iruka wished that he could be someone else…somewhere else. His eyes closed slowly as the sound of something forgotten brushed his mind, something he longed for.

His shoulders which had been tense relaxed and the frown on his face smoothed out. Iruka forgot everyone around him as the sound seemed to take over him and a salty smell filled his nose. Iruka drew a deep breath before opening his eyes, his mind calmed enough to ignore Genma and any other that came to annoy him "ohayo Iruka-sensei!" except him… Chibi Iruka slammed his head on the wall multiple times as Kakashi handed in his LATE report. Iruka's eyebrow twitched as he got a look on the report and he gave Kakashi a strained smile, "Kakashi-sensei….I'm afraid you will have to do this again"

Kakashi u-turned eye gained a twinkle "but Iruka-sensei, I'm sure its alright" both of Iruka's eyebrows twitched, hell no it was not finished aaaand it was wrinkly and had ink splashes all over. Iruka drew a deep breath, "Kakashi-sensei…. You have to do it again and it has to be neatly and more importantly…**finished" **Iruka stressed the word and gave Kakashi back the report before ignoring him and the puppy eyes that was given to him.

Iruka gave a mental sigh of relief as Kakashi moved away to do the report…or find some other sod that would approve the one that he had. In all reality Iruka didn't care as long as he wasn't the one that got yelled at in the end. Iruka never liked getting yelled at….made him feel bad so he always did his best to avoid it. Iruka blinked at a new report on his desk 'what the…oh ANUB people' he sighed to himself and quickly looked it over before sealing it. He must have been the only chuunin to actually see any of the reports but with great power comes great responsibility… Well more like he sometimes had ANBU guards…freaky guys.

He actually remembered a time when they used to spy on him in the bath and you might question how he knew. Simple… ANUB where pervs that fell out of threes with big nosebleeds. Iruka chuckled softly and shook his head before returning to his other paper work to make the two last hours go fast so he could head home or perhaps go with the others for a few drinks, as long as it wasn't raining.

Iruka jumped slightly as the door of the mission office was suddenly slammed open by their Hokage, Tsunade. She stood there a few seconds looking over the gathered ninjas before speaking, "Kakashi, Ibiki, Genma, Asuma and Iruka, report to my office as soon as you can, find someone to step in for you if need be" her serious tone got everyone on guard before she disappeared. Iruka frowned as he looked around the mission room, Genma had quickly got Raidou to take over his shift but who would he….Anko!

Iruka called out to the woman and she gave him a annoyed look before taking over. The chuunin gave her a grateful smile before hurrying after the four others but as he took the path to the hokage tower he couldn't help but wonder why **he **of all people was needed.

He arrived quickly at the doors but he was later then the other four…of course he was a chuunin and they jounins, so it was kind of obvious who would arrive last.

Iruka gave a short greeting to them, which they nodded to before they stepped inside the hokage office. Ibiki and Kakashi quickly took position by the wall, leaning comfortable against it while Genma and Asuma took there place by the windows. Iruka himself just stood by the door as he wasn't used to being in the office with the lady Hokage herself. Tsunade was sitting in her chair, observing them all as they came. She spared him a short smile before it dissipated into a grim line.

"I'm sure you are all curious to why I have summoned you…personally", _'well duh!' _Iruka maintained his polite expressive even if he was somewhat annoyed on the inside. The other four nodded or gave another form for sign that they had heard her. The blond woman sighed and lent forward on the desk and folded her hands into a pyramid "you five are here because of the resent proceeding in Mist….there has been rumours and uncertainties that has cause a few problems for us and I want you five to find out if its true". The moment Tsunade had said Mist everything had frozen inside of Iruka '_I have to return…god help me' _he took a deep breath "Hokage-sama….I understand that you have the other four here but…what am I good for in a mission like this" he questioned gently, trying to avoid making it sound like he was doubting her.

Tsunade chuckled oh so softly and for Iruka it was like the chiming sound of the bells of doom, "But Iruka…you're the most important piece of the mission as you original come from Mist" Iruka took a slight steep back as his eyes widened _'she knows!'_ his insides where screaming for him to run as the others where looking at him, both the jounins and the ANBU's hidden in the shadows. Iruka shook his head slowly _'this wasn't suppose to happen! …never suppose to…'_ Tsunade shook her head, "Relax Iruka…you're a loyal ninja of Konoha and you always been, but you are the main person of this mission because you will glide in easier then the rest of your team mates"

Iruka tried to avoid looking at anyone as he wanted to be invisible, "H-hokage-sama…. Its been a long time since last I was on a mission and I'm not sure…" but Tsunade easily broke him of "that's why we are sending four jounins with you to make sure you will be safe Iruka, now you know the objective of the mission is information gathering. Take half a hour and meet each other by the gate, Ibiki you are team leader" she was clearly dismissing them so Iruka had no choice but to bow and go home to get ready. And he got away quickly before the other four demanded answers from him

The four jounins where left by the office door, looking at both each other and the smoke cloud that Iruka left in his haste to get away. It was Ibiki who first spoke up, "Well… it explains why he's so different I guess…" Genma flickered the senbon, "Mmm and it's another piece to my puzzle" the other gave him puzzled looks but he ignored it. Kakashi sighed "well, we have time to figure this out but right now we need to pack and get ready" the other nodded before transporting themselves to their own home.

Iruka sighed as he checked over his apartment one more time, to make sure that everything was off and clean. He had watered the plants, thrown away food that would get bad, sealed of confidant things and papers, packed extra clothes and weapons, a few scrolls that came from Mist, left a note for Naruto to look after his apartment and of course a book for those times there would be nothing to do "alright….just one more thing to do" Iruka muttered to himself as he lifted his backpack onto his back. He quietly teleported to his destination- the Memorial Stone.

There was no one there at this time and Iruka was grateful for it. He traced his parents' names reverently, "Hey Mom, hey Dad it's me, Iruka, I got a mission and I'm kind of scared about it… I have to go back to Mist you se and…well my team mates are jounins" Iruka sighed and looked around, "You could say I'm afraid…what if they figure out? I cant leave Konoha now… its my home" Iruka shook his head and bowed to the stone, "Well…I'll see you as soon as I can." he went off towards the gate never seeing or sensing the eyes watching him.


	3. Old Memories

**Old memories**

A week….one bloody week and the mission was still rolling like a big wheel down a hill. It was enough for Iruka to almost tear his hair out. The only good thing about it was that it hadn't rained at all…yet but soon it would, for after all…this was Mist…bloody Mist country that was always had rain every month except in the winter. Then it was snow.

Iruka sighed softly and continued to jump from three to three behind Genma. Asuma and Kakashi where behind the chuunin and Ibiki was of course the leading man and had decided that the 'weak' little chuunin had to be in the middle '_weak my ass'_ he fumed to himself. In Mist Iruka was most likely the strongest of them as he knew the land better by instinct and then there was that little bit of bloodlimit... But then again they didn't know of that and Iruka was thankful for that.

They where suppose to find some place to rest for the night as the Mist inhabitants weren't so trusting of strangers right now _'and for good reason I believe' _he frowned to himself. He hadn't been able to dig up anything really but the rumours had been enough to send chills down Iruka's back…the rumours of the Mizukage searching for the five bloodlimits of Mist. The hyouton limit, the fantomu-me limit, the arai-enkai limit, the umi-rei limit and the undo-enja… five limits. The ice limit, the phantom eye limit, the shark limit, the sea ghost limit and the wind speaker limit. Every last one of the limits had fled but some of them where still out there…like Iruka and good old shark fin.

Iruka's lips twitched. He hadn't really thought about the blue man in a long time. Last time they had seen each other, both had been teens, Iruka barely thirteen at the time. And Kisame himself had been sixteen. It hadn't really been the best meeting but…it was a needed meeting between the clans that had once been so close. Iruka felt Ibiki suddenly slowing down before pulling into the side, making a clear sign for stopping.

Iruka landed with ease beside the heavily scarred man and the ever annoying senborn sucker, waiting for the everlasting pervert and the smoker. They landed swiftly and without noise and waited for whatever Ibiki wanted to talk about, "Alright…as you all know we haven't found any real information that could be bought back to lady Hokage…that means we are camping for one more night at least so we need to find some place to sleep" Ibiki's gruff voice told every one that he was not happy with that. Ibiki looked around seriously "keep the radio on and do not go to far…if something happens or If you find a place we can all rest contact if not…be back here in half a hour" everyone nodded before they all jumped in different directions.

Iruka sighed, he already knew of a place to rest but he couldn't really tell them yet without 'searching'. He rolled his chocolate coloured eyes as he jumped in the direction of a cave he knew about but there was one problem with that…a lake…a bloody lake was not far from the cave opening and if it rained there would be the danger of the water reaching inside the cave. Now for most people this would not be a problem but for Iruka… it could be the very cause that showed his secrets.

Now, all of this put Iruka into a mess as there was no other place around that was as safe as this cave. So he had a choice…show the others the cave and risk exposure or hope the others find a safe place that Iruka had never been at…_'great…just flipping great' _he grumbled to himself as he gave himself a chakra boost to gain speed. It only took him teen minutes to land in the clearing where he could see the cave entrance but he could also see how near the opening the water was. He sighed and pinched his nose; everything was going to hell for him.

He pushed the button on the radio so he could contact the others, "Ibiki-san?" he called as he evaluated the aria. It took a little while before he got a answer but then the radio crinkled, "Iruka-san? You got something?" Iruka nodded before slapping his forehead. Ibiki couldn't see him! "Hai…it's a cave and it seems quite safe….do you want my coordinates?" a short silence before Ibiki's voice sounded again, "Hai" and Iruka quickly gave him it, waiting for the others to come to him.

He sat down as he waited for the four jounins and let his mind wander over the last time he had been here. It had been Iruka's first and last S-class mission, even thought he was a chuunin at the time, the Sandaime had trusted a sixteen year old, newly promoted Umino Iruka with a S rank mission. It had been both made him very proud…and very scared. It had actually been a delivery mission to one of the smaller islands of Water country but to get there Iruka had to travel thought the main land… Iruka had never been as scared as that time. But it had been the first time he meet a fellow Mist bloodlimit bearer.

**Flashback**

Iruka panted as he frantically searched for a place to take cover as he could feel the rain coming. Thunder rolled not far away and the usually damp air was crackling with suppressed electrician, signaling that lightening was not far away. Iruka ran as fast as he could, the scrolls in his backpack jumping slightly '_dear kami, please, please let me find something! I don't want to change!' _his mind was spinning frantically, the adrenalin in his body forcing him to move even faster then before. His eyes suddenly spotted a cave entrance '_there!'_ was his only thought, even though the lake was a little to close for comfort it was the only option for Iruka. He just made it before the rain started to pour down, his slim and narrow form just barely avoiding what would have been a VERY bad situation.

The young brunette slowly sank to his knees as he tried to calm his beating heart and racing breath, never noticing the dark shadow moving towards him. Iruka's eyes widened as a kunai was suddenly resting against his tan neck "don't move…" a dark voice sounded and Iruka had no choice but to obey.

He tried to keep his breathing somewhat steady but it was quite hard when you had a sharp weapon against his troths and a potential enemy behind him "a Konoha ninja…now that's a rare sight" the male voice spoke up and Iruka stiffened slightly "what brings a leafling to Mist of all places?" it wasn't a question really, more like a demand. Iruka debated shortly with himself but the slight pressure of the kunai made him answer "mission…I am only traveling through" it didn't hurt to tell that. But the silence that came after his confession did as it seemed to drag on forever. Iruka had never believed that silence could actually hurt you.

A slight shuffling sounded over the rain that was falling outside before the other spoke again "are you any treat to me" Iruka blinked "no…my mission only contains delivering and fighting if someone tries to stop me" a quiet sigh came from behind him before the kunai disappeared. Iruka quickly moved away and turned around and came face to face with a blue skinned teen…errg man?

The other ninja scanned his face before smirking, "Umino Iruka…it's a pleasure to finally meet you, I'm Hoshigaki Kisame, Mist ninja." and from there a strange but expected friendship was formed

**Flashback over**

Iruka's lips twitched slightly at the thought of the blue skinned devil that he came to know. He wondered how Kisame was…was he safe? Happy? Did he find that silver lining and freedom that he talked about so long ago or was the life of a missing nin harder then Kisame had thought? It made Iruka sigh. This was another reason he hated to be in water country… it made him think about the other bloodlimit users and how they where… Iruka always felt guilty for surviving when so many others had died.

A sudden crash had Iruka on his feet with a kunai in his hand but he relaxed when he saw it was just Asuma lying sprawled on the forest floor, "DAMNIT GENMA! Was it necessary to push me!?" the bearded man growled as he stood up and brushed leafs of his clothes. Iruka couldn't help but chuckle slightly and therefore bringing Asuma's attention to the chuunin and the jounin scowled. A snickering Genma landed lightly beside Iruka as Ibiki and Kakashi came from different directions, "Hmmm…very nice spot" Ibiki looked around with a critical eye.

Iruka smiled slightly, "That's what I thought…the cave entrance is pretty hidden to" he pointed the half hidden hole in the wall, bushes and hanging plants doing a good job of covering it up. Ibiki nodded with a hum and stroked his chin "well…Genma you go find wood to burn…Kakashi and Asuma scan the aria, Iruka and I will look over the cave" Ibiki gave everyone a job that they quickly set of to do, leaving only Ibiki and Iruka at the cave.

The torture expert turned to Iruka with a firm look, "How did you know of this cave?" Iruka sent the scarred man a startled look before sighing, "I…kinda…been here before" he shifted but quickly interrupted the other man before he could say anything, "It was in regards to a mission so please don't ask" Ibiki pressed his lips tightly together but nodded before moving to the cave, leaving Iruka alone on the outside with the wind gently swaying the chestnut brown hair.

AN: alright you might want a translation to the bloodlimit names and such . and I just have to point out I used a Japanese translator to make the names… .

**The Hyouton: **this is Haku's bloodlimit…ya know the whole ice thing ;

**The Fantomu-me **: this is the**phantom eye **bloodlimit . actually this is Ranmaru's bloodlimit but I never heard the name of his bloodlimit so I just made one up

**The Umi-rei**: this means **sea ghost **actually and I made this one up to -

**The Enkai-enja: **see this name…I made it up aaaand this is Iruka's bloodlimits name! It means**ocean speaker**…ya know the hole mermaid thing XD

**The Arai-enkai**: ohh this is the wild ocean bloodlimit and will actually mean something later


	4. Secret Revealed

**Secret revealed **

Everything had been going sooo well. No rain, no spilt water or anything like that and the jounins actually trusted him and his abilities and then this had to happen. Iruka growled to himself as he ducked yet another punch from the Mist nin's that had come over their camp_ 'fuck! If this continues...'_ Iruka's head spun as a hit connected with his stomach, sending him flying into one of the trees surrounding them.

Blood roared like a river in his ears, he thought he could hear someone shouting his name but it was hard to hear through the sound of his own heart beating against his ribcage. He shook his head and ducked not a minute to late as numerous kunais imbedded themselves into the three where he had been. Iruka jumped away from the advancing Mist shinobi '_we are all going to hell...well me at least'_ there was no way in heaven or hell that not one of these Mist shinobis weren't going to get him and with the number of them... Twelve on five... Dear gods.

The others where all scattered around the clearing, fighting their own opponents, Kakashi was dealing with three at one time, the same was Asuma by the cave. Ibiki was giving two mist nins a hard time even as Genma was pinning his own opponents with senbons. They didn't seem to have to much problem…well not as much as Iruka as he was barely dealing with his two enemies '_and jounins on top!'_ his mind growled. Step by step Iruka was pressed back but he avoided tripping on anything as they drove him back, nearer and nearer the lake "Suijinheki no jutsu!" a jet of water was suddenly shot straight at Iruka and he could not avoid it…he was to tired.

He gave a cry that made the others pause in there respective battles as he was shot into the air by the force of the jutsu and with a humongous splash he sunk under the lake surface. Water… cold, life-giving, wet and still so good against his skin. It had been a long time since he had been able to be fully submerged and it felt good, actually it felt like heaven and nirvana rolled into one big ball. He closed his eyes in bliss.

The gills formed flawless and without the standard pain as it was not long since his last partway transformation. Iruka's eyes flew open in panic '_transformation…oh god they are going to figure it out…'_ Iruka honestly tried to channel his chakra to try to stop the changes but it was no use and he could not forever stay under water for the others would be worried.

He did the only thing he could do. He swam upwards.

Even if he's secret would be discovered he could now fight the jounins without problems. He was getting closer to the surface, his feet transforming into a silver fishtail with a patch of gold running up the middle, like a line showing where his legs melted together. Hands gained a see thought layer of skin between his fingers and his eyesight cleared up until he could see crystal clear. Iruka knew without seeing that he had gained light sliver fish scales along his cheeks, both of them running over where his scar would be in human form.

It only took him two powerful thrust of his new formed tail to bring him to the surface, a very, very quiet surface. It only took Iruka one look around to understand why. There was no one in the clearing but they couldn't be far away by the sound of battle that was coming all over. It sounded like the fight had escalated when Iruka had gone under for now there was four dead Mist nins on the grass, two of them Iruka noted that he had been fighting. The senbons sitting in their throats told the story of who had taken them down. But at the moment Iruka had bigger problems…like what to do. He frowned, what was he going to do?

Transformed as he was, he would be invincible in water but on land… he could not move on land something that should be obvious by the freaking fishtail he was sporting. There really wasn't anything he could do…for now. But right now all he could do was wait and try to control the urge to duck under the water. The sound of battle and jutsus fired up got fainter and fainter by time and for Iruka it felt like it had all lasted for hours but in a reality it was only a few minutes '_what is happening?'_ he growled softly to himself but the sounds came out like squeaking.

Iruka blinked before slapping his forehead with his webbed hand. He was in mermai…errg merman form, fish form and if he wanted human like sounds he would have to concentrate on it.

Half a hour…it had been half a hour since there had been any sound at all from the others and it left Iruka twitchy and uncertain. Should he had come up of the water before? Tried to hide what he was? But in the end it would make no difference. It would take hours for him to return to normal form and by then it would be to late to help. Right now the best place for him was in the water so he could take on any enemy nins that came over their camp.

A soft tapping sound interrupted Iruka's thinking. Steps… steps heading towards the camp. The chuunin held his breath as he waited for whoever it was. If it was one of his team mates things would be okay…even if he had something to explain to them and if it was a enemy… a blue ring appeared around Iruka's pupil at the thought '_let them come, I'm ready this time'._

**(AN: now I was considering leaving it off here but I decided to be nice -…plus it would be to short a chapter for my taste . )**

Into the clearing came…Asuma!

Iruka sighed in relief as he had never used his bloodline to kill before and to be honest… it freaked him out a little. Asuma took one look around before his eyes snapped back to Iruka in the water. The unlit cig in his mouth fell out as he gaped at the younger man "I-Iruka? What… I mean…" the smoking nin stuttered and Iruka blushed a angry red that made the silver path over his nose and cheeks glow softly.

He scratched the silver scales as he concentrated a large amount of chakra in his throat "errg…I can explain?" he spoke up quietly. Asuma visibly shook himself as he lent down to retrieve the fallen cig "well…I hope so Iruka because I wont be the only one wanting a answer" his voice was gruff. Iruka bit his lower lip hard "is the fight over?" a nod was his only conformation "the others are cleaning up…they sent me to see if you where all right" the unspoken, or dead, was hanging in the air between them.

Iruka swam into the shallow of the lake as Asuma took care of the body on land. The chestnut man could see the other twitch at the sight of the silver fish tail that he was sporting but at the moment Iruka couldn't really bring himself to care… he was to damn tired. Tired of hiding from all, tired of keeping secrets, tired of pulling away from all when all he wanted was to have someone, **anyone** to hold onto and share what he thought, felt and meant. So he let the other see him and soon more then one would be seeing him.

But… was he ready for it? Could he?

It was to late to regret now, he had already shown Asuma what he was…well partway and now all he could do was wait for the others to come.

And the others had come. Their reaction had been amusing to say the lest… well Genma's at least as he had fainted at the sight of Iruka the fish. The others…well they had been slightly confused and suspicious. It had hurt Iruka slightly but he understood, after all he had been the one to withhold information that could be crucial to their mission but then again… on one had known… at **all**.

Iruka nervously waved his tail in the water as he couldn't move far away. At the moment he was sitting on the shore, the others either sitting or standing around him looking at the chuunin with evaluating eyes. Iruka scratched the gills on his neck as he shifted "I-I guess you guys want to know why errg…I'm like this" Ibiki raised a eyebrow "quite… Umino you haven't been totally honest have you" there was something in the interrogation master that told Iruka that the scarred man had figured it out.

Iruka sighed "could one of you give me a soldier pill first… I'm afraid I don't have much chakra" Kakashi reached into his vest pocket and threw him one. Iruka nodded gratefully as he would need all the chakra he could get to both talk and try to transform back to normal faster. And so Iruka told the hour other about his childhood, the bloodlimit and why he had changed. During the talk, the tail had slowly been turning into his familiar legs, the silver scales into his normal scarred nose but the gills lingered. Iruka had a theory why but at the moment he was more aware of his team mates' reaction to his story.

As Iruka finished talking it felt like his throat was on fire and he desperately needed a drink. Genma seemed to have notice this as he silently handed Iruka his water canteen, he smiled gratefully at the senbon chewer. He drank deeply as the others soaked up his story "well… now that we know this we know to be careful" Ibiki sent Iruka a hard look "I am not going to lie Iruka-san but if you had told us this information earlier, we could have taken precautions if you ever came in a hard situation"

Iruka sighed, "Ibiki-san…the only one to ever know of this was Sandaime-sama and he is not among us anymore" Iruka rubbed the gills and frowned. The others traded looks, "Well we better get you back to the cave" Genma said cheerfully as he scoped the other man up bridal style. Iruka yelped, "Gah! G-genma! Put me down this instant!" Iruka really wanted to squirm out of the arms holding him but damn it! He was comfortable there.

The other snorted " Iruka you can hardly walk with the amount of chakra you must have lost, both the fight and your bloodlimit stunt, now be a good little chuunin and sleep" Genma put a little pressure on the last word and suddenly Iruka's eyes seemed so much heavier '_god damn you bastard Genma!' _he squirmed sluggishly "Bastard... Gen…" his eyes shut as chuckles was heard and then he knew no more then the darkness of his eyelids.


End file.
